Rock Your Plot, One More Time!

Yesterday, I plotted Book #4 of Series #1. I used the guidance of ROCK YOUR PLOT: A Simple System for Plotting Your Novel (Rock Your Writing) [Kindle Edition], with the supplemental ROCK YOUR PLOT Workbook, and within a few hours, the direction of Book #4 took shape.

The Amazon book description for ROCK YOUR PLOT includes:

Are you stuck trying to write a novel?

Have you tried writing several stories, only to stall out in the middle and move on to a new project?

Do you like the idea of plot outlines, but have difficulty figuring out what happens next, or what should happen where?

Or are you a writer who hates outlining, preferring to write a novel organically– but still feel like your story needs more plot and structure?

Outlining, whether it’s just the turning points or a comprehensive scene by scene plot outline, might help you get past your block.

ROCK YOUR PLOT: A Simple System for Plotting Your Novel teaches a clear, flexible process to help you with your:

• Premise: test your premise for inherent conflict and sustainability.
• Characterization: create strong characters with urgent goals, understandable motivation, and tons of obstacles.
• Plot outline, turning points: use those characters to build logical and powerful plot points and complete character arcs.
• Plot outline, scene-by-scene: Develop a sequence of dynamic scenes that propels your reader through your story.

This book goes straight to the point, putting theory in plain language, adding examples from blockbuster stories, and finishing each section with exercises designed to help you work with your characters to write a novel that excites you… and your readers.
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Cathy Yardley's  ROCK YOUR PLOT is straight forward and easy to understand and follow. Step by step, a writer is able to build a book using the steps presented. Best $2.99 I've ever spent! What a phenomenal BARGAIN. Highly Recommend!
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Current Series #1 Status:

Book #1 thru #3, First Drafts:


Book #4, First Draft begun Friday, March 29, 2013, set for First Draft completion:


Book #5, First Draft start date set for April 17, 2013, set for First Draft completion:


The second week of May 2013, Revision of Series #1 begins.

Writer's write, and this Writer Gal is loving the journey to write books and make a living doing the same.

Onward!

Hard Work Ahead

As I near the six-month mark of my full-time writing journey, I have discovered there are some writing processes that are much easier and faster than I expected or imagined, yet that "making your novel stand out from the crowd" requires quite a bit of time and effort.

Thanks to Rock Your Plot and Rock Your Revisions, plotting and revisions are no where near as demanding as I expected, yet I have realized First Drafting and working through the techniques presented in Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook is hard work.

The discipline it takes to First Draft sometimes alludes me. Over the past few months, I have experimented with different tools and techniques to increase my production and productivity. Since I'm floundering at present, it's time to review what worked best and what didn't, then re-implement the former.

The brainpower it takes to "add tension" to every page, is exhausting, yet the results are well-worth the effort; however, the time it takes to employ such techniques cannot be discounted when creating a realistic writing schedule.

According to Cathy Yardley's Rock Your Revisions, you can expect to spend three times as long with revisions as you did writing the first draft. Since I'm using her Rock Your Plot process up front, that should cut the time for revision considerably, yet adding the Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook techniques will add more time; thus, I need to consider the time involved in realistic revision efforts.

For now, I reevaluate, plan and schedule because there's Hard Work Ahead.

"And miles to go before I sleep." (Robert Frost)

Fifty days ago, I began my 2nd First Draft of Book #1, Series #1. On Day 50, I completed the draft.

For the rest of the week, I will work on addressing Kat Duncan's chapter-by-chapter writing mentor/coaching comments and suggestions in the draft, then will begin what will hopefully be a close-to-final draft edit next week.

In the meantime, while implementing the updates for Book #1, I will flesh out the plot of Book #2 using the Rock Your Plot methods and workbook.

Next week, I will coordinate and alternate the edits of Book #1 with the first drafting of Book #2. [Plus, I'd like to work in (somewhere in this so-far realistic schedule) the planning and start of a new series that I'm equally excited about.]

There are four other books in the series, plus other series/books I need to and feel compelled to write.

In the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert Frost shares the line, "And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." In completing Book #1, I accomplished a milestone, with many, many miles left to travel.

Then What Happens?

With the major plot points worked out for Book #2, Series #1, thanks to Cathy Yardley's Rock Your Plot, I have the basic framework of the story before me.

For the eight major plot points, I have eight scenes already planned, with their Goal, Motivation, Conflict, and Disaster depicted.

The novel will have, at a minimum, 60 scenes, so I now have 52 scenes that need to be placed on my Index Card or MS Word Table road map. (More than likely both!)

I look at Scene #1, the Inciting Incident, then ask myself, "Then what happens?"

I do this until I get to Plot Point #1, then repeat.

As I explained to a writer friend who's considers herself a Pantser, which is someone who writes without a plotted course, and says she just "lets the book come out," the Rock Your Plot method is not a fill-in-the-blank formula.

Writer friend writes quite a bit of material that she discards, but claims that her overall writing is better because of the twists and turns the direction of her writing takes, as she finds her way through the story. The Pantser process works for her.

For me, having some sort of direction tends to keep me on the road, headed in a forward direction, with an idea as to where the road/story is headed next. Writer friend says that I'm a Plotter, because I plot out the scenes of my books ahead of time.

Either way, I'm glad us Plotters and Pantsers can get along and encourage and support each other.

So now, back to my list of Plot Points and Scenes. What's next? THEN what happens?

Rock Your Plot Workbook & Everlasting Treats

As a supplement to Rock Your Plot, Cathy Yardley provides a free download of her Rock Your Plot Workbook on her Rock Your Writing website.

So today, while Hubby reads a book and continues to recover from foot surgery and Bullet, the wire-haired dachshund, plays with his Everlasting Treat Ball (thanks for the suggestion, Cathy), I am re-reading Rock Your Plot on Kindle and working through the workbook for Book #2 of Series #1.

Ah, blessed quiet. And focus.

In a couple of hours, I'm close to completing the steps in the workbook. Two hours! That's amazing to me. (Again, thank you Cathy!)

Next, out come the index cards.

So, while Hubby enjoys reading and the puppy his everlasting treat, I will enjoy doing what I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I will write.